Gospel – Luke 20: 27-38

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third married her,
and likewise all the seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called out ‘Lord,’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”

Reflection on the Gospel

Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.

In today’s Gospel Jesus insists on the importance of relationships!

When encountering people who deny the resurrection (Sadducees) – he gives them relationship language to understand eternal life.  For this Jewish sect, it is so important that Jesus spells out the relationship between Moses and God and in turn putting Jesus and Moses on the same playing field.

For the past week, including last Sunday — we have heard the importance, from Luke’s Gospel, of inviting the outcast to a banquet and  reaping the benefits LATER.  In the Gospel, the afterlife is always situated in the life we live now.

 

When husbands and wives deepen their love for each other –  they make the resurrection visible.  When teachers spend the extra time with a struggling student – they make the afterlife tangible.  When students strive to make charity and justice a major part of their life – the Kingdom of God is at hand  And when people bless the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and those who are persecuted – their reward is great in heaven.

 

This is all centered at the banquet feast of the Eucharist — when we eat with Jesus we are giving the nourishment to build the Kingdom of God in the world we live NOW!

 

Mr. Christopher Panepinto
Saint Joseph’s Collegiate Institute – Buffalo, NY

 

Saint John Baptist de La Salle – Pray for us.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts – Forever.